Are you terribly familiar with Indiana, and if so how would you say it compares to Illinois?  I didn't get to see much of IL aside from a couple of visits to Chicago, and what I did see I wasn't crazy about.

Also what is your general opinion of Illinois?   Have you had a chance to see much of the rest of the country?

from what i've experienced, indiana is pretty much a mirror of southern illinois, i.e. illinois minus chicago, save gary's horrendous crime rate. lots of rural areas, long stretches of nothing in between ho-hum suburbs, wal-marts, fast food and pick-em-up trucks. the drivers aren't really much worse than ours, and they are illinois' number one independence day fireworks supplier. indiana also has that amish town which i guess puts them ahead of the prairie state for horse-and-buggy populations. also remarkable is indiana beach i suppose, but not really. there's a six flags north of chicago that i'd rather go to

chicago itself isn't all that exciting and you can hit up just about every brochure-worthy tourist attraction in a matter of hours. the bean, the picasso statue, buckingham fountain, skydeck, navy pier, and the conan o'brien bobblehead are all within walking distance of each other. i live south of the loop during the school year and it's actually pretty nice; it's not so much a city as it is a really dense suburb for the most part. the scenery is monochrome and depressing but you're only a half hour train ride away from amber waves of grain should it ever start wearing on you. or if that's not an option then i know lots of places for good food, cheap food and/or recently decriminalized drugs. illinois is a dull and corrupt state but i do admire the variety.

i've been to every state surrounding illinois and they are more or less the same. wisconsin is rich with hokey cheese shops and tourist traps, especially the dells, though door county is very pretty, the ultimate retirement community. michigan's upper peninsula is also a sight to see but that is just about all you'll be doing up there unless you get a real kick out of "yooper" novelty gifts. i do remember passing through a town called christmas while up there which reminded me of that king of the hill episode where bill pretends to be santa well into february and beyond. iowa is wholly unremarkable, missouri just as well and i was too young to remember kentucky but i've been there too.

i am going to assume florida is very little more than the disney and universal parks i visited, but for the same reason i feel my trip to california was wasted. texas is truly not great and nebraska really is just as bad of a drive through as i've been told. south dakota has been my favorite visit so far, there was surprisingly plenty to see and do, badlands, black hills, buffalo, rushmore, etc., and we stopped into wyoming for a day to see devil's tower there too. very beautiful part of the united states that i wouldn't mind seeing again. before that though i would like to visit new england because i have never traveled there. have YOU been there, or anywhere else or worth?? share your thoughts below!

Thanks for the amazingly comprehensive answer

I've never been to New England; the closest I've been is Baltimore, but that is a pretty nice city.  My favorite stop on the east coast was DC, it's an incredible city in pretty much every way.  I need to check out NYC and New England someday.  Everything south of DC is completely avoidable though.

As anyone who has spoken to me for more than 5 minutes will tell you, the west coast is my favorite place hands down.  The California coast line is amazing from top to bottom and the Pacific Northwest will always have a special place in my heart.  Hawaii is also amazing but who doesn't like Hawaii?  Denver and the Rockies in general are also pretty cool.

Texas is admittedly pretty poo pooty but Austin makes it totally worth going to.  What parts of Texas did you get to see?

I don't get how anyone could write so much about my state

Illinois seems way cooler

I don't get how anyone could write so much about my state

Illinois seems way cooler

Illinois is not cool at all and I want to move out of this state ASAP

and go where

colorado

naturally

What is the use of arguing, gentlemen?  The entire midwest is equally poo pooty and you should all want to leave it with the utmost haste.

Truer words have never been spoken.

and go where

somewhere on the west coast

You aren't tough enough to move to the west coast.

See: Whiteboyz

y'all should move to the glorious paradise of NUNAVUT.

i think i was in san antonio for most of my trip to texas. i can recall riverwalk pretty vividly but i have no memory of seeing the alamo. i also visited schlitterbahn waterpark and the uss lexington in whichever neighboring towns. i guess i'm more into scenery than tourist attractions which is why texas didn't wow me so much though austin does look pretty neat

schlitterbahn is the SHIT but yes everything else you saw was probably awful.  I have been to each of those locations at least 10 times each and they were never fun.

i recently took a family of friends to the poo pooTERBOMB and was appauld by the cleanliness of the park, the operability of the rides and the professionallism of the staff. the old park is just nasty. the water might be fresh but thats were the cleanliness stops. the lines were incredible long and the new 'worlds longest' not operating waterride was closed my entire visit to that section over four hours.when i complained i got a PUNK manager who was no better at managing his acne.this PUNK kept his sunglasses on the whole time he talked with me big tuff guy all 95 pounds of him.he refused to give me a raincheck not a refund NO RAINCHECKS even though the services i paid for were unavailable for a long time. the whole park is ran by a pack of neonazi pimple faced baywatch wannabees in spandek. GIGANTIC TURNOFF.So GO TO SEAWORLD great animal experiences, professional adult staff, year long pass.